War and coups

1991 - Start of civil war. Former army corporal Foday Sankoh and his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) begin campaign against President Momoh, capturing towns on border with Liberia.

1991 September - New constitution providing for a multiparty system adopted.

1992 - President Joseph Momoh ousted in military coup led by Capt Valentine Strasser, apparently frustrated by failure to deal with rebels. Under international pressure, Capt Strasser announces plans for the first multi-party elections since 1967.

1996 January - Valentine Strasser ousted in military coup led by his defence minister, Brig Julius Maada Bio.

1997 - Peace deal unravels. President Kabbah deposed by army in May. Maj Johnny Paul Koroma, in prison awaiting the outcome of a treason trial, leads the military junta - the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Koroma suspends the constitution, bans demonstrations and abolishes political parties.

Kabbah flees to Guinea to mobilise international support.

1997 July - The Commonwealth suspends Sierra Leone.

1997 October - The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on Sierra Leone, barring the supply of arms and petroleum products. A British company, Sandline, nonetheless supplies "logistical support", including rifles, to Kabbah allies.

2006 March - Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor is arrested in Nigeria and handed over to the war crimes court in Sierra Leone which indicted him.

2006 December - President Kabbah says 90% of the country's $1.6bn (£815m) debt has been written off after negotiations with international creditors.

Taylor trial

2007 June - Start of former Liberian President Charles Taylor's war crimes trial in The Hague, where he stands accused of instigating atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone's special war crimes court in Freetown delivers its first verdicts, finding three militia leaders guilty.

2007 August - Presidential and parliamentary polls. Ernest Bai Koroma wins the presidency and his All People's Congress, formerly in opposition, wins a majority in parliament.

Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Diamond mining is a major activity in the Kono district, in eastern Sierra Leone

2009 October - UN-backed Special Court winds down after seven years investigating civil war atrocities. Its remaining case, the trial of Charles Taylor, continues in The Hague.

2010 September - UN Security Council lifts last remaining sanctions against Sierra Leone - an arms embargo and a travel ban for rebels.

2012 February - Energy companies report discovery of oil off the coasts of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Work continues to estimate their size.

2012 April - The UN-backed Sierra Leone war crimes court in The Hague concludes its work with the conviction of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor of aiding and abetting war crimes in the Sierra Leone civil war.

2012 November - First elections for since the end of the civil war held without UN oversight. President Koroma wins a second term.

2013 April - Sierra Leone deploys a battalion of troops to Somalia to join the African Union peacekeeping mission.

Ebola epidemic

2014 July - Sierra Leone declares a state of emergency to tackle the deadly Ebola outbreak which has killed more than 700 in West Africa.

2014 August - President Ernest Bai Koroma dismisses Health Minister Miatta Kargbo over her handling of the Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 400 people in Sierra Leone.

2014 September - People in Sierra Leone are instructed to stay indoors for three days, as part of the country's strategy to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

2015 March - Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana seeks asylum in US embassy, claiming his life is in danger. President Koroma accuses him of fomenting violence, and dismisses him.

2016 March - The World Health Organisation declares Sierra Leone Ebola-free for a second time, after a new flare-up in the wake of the first all-clear in November.